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These big colleges produce the most students who graduate on time

Being accepted into college is a major milestone for any student. But it’s only one step toward receiving a degree. The sad truth is that many students never bridge the gap between enrollment and graduation.

According to a 2014 study by Complete College America, less than 50 percent of full-time public college students graduate in four years at the majority of public colleges. And private colleges don’t fare much better, particularly for low-income students.

Of course, not all schools face such low graduation rates. StartClass, an education research site by Graphiq, found the biggest colleges where the most students graduate on time. Using 2015 data (the most recent year available) from the National Center for Education Statistics Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, StartClass ranked big colleges by their undergraduate four-year graduation rate. To qualify as a “big college,” institutions needed to have at least 15,000 undergraduate students. Only colleges with a four-year graduation rate greater than 50 percent were included.

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Academic excellence: This includes the institution’s four-year graduation rate, full-time retention rate, student-faculty ratio and endowment per student, among other things.

Expert opinion: StartClass compiles the latest college rankings from several publications, such as Forbes and U.S. News.

Admissions selectivity: This takes into account the college’s acceptance rate, average ACT and SAT scores as well as the percent of freshmen in the top half of their high school graduating class.

Career readiness: This is largely determined by the post-graduation salaries of the school’s alumni.

Financial affordability: Determined by the university’s average net price, financial aid and other factors.

Of the 37 schools on this list, only three have four-year graduation rates at or above 80 percent, and none exceed 90 percent. Although flagship public universities dominate the ranking, some private schools make the cut, including USC and Syracuse.

Note: Ties are broken by each school’s six-year undergrad graduation rate and then by Smart Rating. The six-year graduation rate is the percentage of students who graduate within six years, meaning it also includes the four-year rate.

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